Maharda محردة Maharda, Mahardah, Muharda, Mharada, Mahardeh, Muhardeh, Mhardeh, Mharda | |
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 Ancient Roman bridge in Maharda | |
  Maharda Location in Syria | |
| Coordinates:35°15′N36°35′E / 35.250°N 36.583°E /35.250; 36.583 | |
| Country |  Syria |
| Governorate | Hama |
| District | Mahardah |
| Subdistrict | Mahardah |
| Elevation | 280 m (920 ft) |
| Population (2004) | |
• Total | 17,578[1] |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
Maharda (Arabic:محردة,romanized: Mḥarda,IPA:[maˈħarda]; also transliteratedMhardeh,Muhardah,Mahardah orMharda) is a Christian city in westernSyria, administratively part of theHama Governorate, located about 23 kilometers northwest ofHama. It is situated along theOrontes River, near theGhab plain. Nearby localities includeHalfaya andTaybat al-Imam to the east,Khitab to the southeast,Maarzaf to the south,Asilah andJubb Ramlah to the southwest,Shaizar,Safsafiyah,Tremseh andKafr Hud to the west andKafr Zita andal-Lataminah to the north.
According to theSyria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Maharda had a population of 17,578 in the 2004 census. It is the center ofMahardah District, one of the Hama Governorate's five districts, and thenahiyah ("subdistrict") of Maharda, which contained 21 localities with a combined population of 80,165 in 2004.[1] Maharda's population was estimated to be 22,442 in 2010.[2] Its inhabitants are predominantlyChristians of theGreek Orthodox Church.[3][4]
TheOrontes River was dammed 3 kilometers north, and theMahardah Dam on theGhab plain is used to generatehydroelectric power.
The numerous Christian ruins in the village attest to an ancient Christian presence in Maharda. Maharda's inhabitants claim descent from theGhassanids, a prominentArab Christian tribe from theByzantine era. Along withal-Suqaylabiyah andKafr Buhum, it is one of the few Greek Orthodox, Arab Christian localities in the Hama region.[4]
In the 16th century, duringOttoman rule (1516–1918), Maharda was themetropolitan seat of adiocese called 'Euchaita', spanning the Christian villages of the countryside betweenHama andHoms. The affiliated Christian villages wereKafr Buhum,Bsirin,Albiyya, Hanak, Ma'alta andAfiyun. In the early 16th century, Maharda had a population of 4,000, according to an anecdotal account by PatriarchMacarius III Ibn al-Za'im (r. 1647–1672), a native of the Hama region. The second-to-last metropolitan of Euchaita, Gregorius al-Hamawi, a native of Maharda, ordained 35 priests and 14 deacons. After the death of his successor, Malachi, in 1596 or 1597, Euchaita was dissolved and its diocese was split between those of Hama and Homs, with Maharda assigned to the former.[5]
In 1728, the Christians of Maharda, represented by their chief, were indebted over 5,000 piasters to a moneylender inHama, Husayn Effendi al-Kaylani. Part of the sum was to help coverjizya (poll tax on Christians) payments to the government.[6] In an 1828 or 1829 tax record, the village consisted of 46feddans and paid 4,730akce (450 of which was jizya) to the government treasury, as well as the relatively high sum of 13,250akce to themutasallim (local governor) of Hama,Faraj Agha, which the government later determined was an illicit collection by themutasallim.[7] The village was recorded as a Greek Orthodox Christian village in 1838.[8]
In the Monastery of St. George in Maharda, whose date of construction is not known, the oldest manuscript there dates to the late 19th century.[5] In 1882 the AmericanPresbyterian church opened a school in Maharda, which the Ottoman governor ofSyria closed in 1906 citing the lack of a permit.[9] Numerous emigrants from Maharda left the village in the aftermath ofWorld War I, when the Ottomans were driven from Syria byBritish-backed forces.[10]
In the early 1960s, Maharda was described as "a large Christian village where the houses lie in terraces amid the vines".[11] Maharda historically benefited from its location in a rich agricultural region, its close proximity (2 kilometers (1.2 mi)) to the strategic medieval citadel ofShaizar, and the large landed estates of its residents. The lands expropriated from Maharda alone by the state constituted a proportionally considerable 0.8% of all lands expropriated in theHama Governorate in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Employment and businesses in the town benefited from the construction of theMaharda Dam in 1957–1963 and a few years later by the construction of the associated hydroelectric station. Many emigrants returned to Maharda during this period, investing their capital there, opening new services and artisinal businesses, and introducing technology like motor pumps, which stimulated agricultural production.[10]
Many of the villages around Maharda were large, effectively small towns, such asKafr Zita,Karnaz,Halfaya andal-Lataminah, and maintained close commercial ties with Maharda as the chief town andnahiya (subdistrict) center of the area. In 1975, Maharda's status was further solidified when it was formally recognized as a city and made the capital of the newMahardah District.[10] The distinctive urban character, wide variety of businesses and the 'elegance' of its young women had earned Maharda the nickname of 'littleParis' among the city dwellers of Hama by the 1980s, according to historians Jean and Françoise Métral.[12] Outside of thegovernorate capitals of Hama and Homs and the majordistrict capital ofSalamiyah, Maharda was the only city in central Syria to command its own zone of influence, at least as of the mid-1990s.[13]
During theSyrian Civil War, Maharda has been targeted by rebels, yet remained under government control.[14] Between 2011 and 2018, 97 civilians were killed in rebel attacks on the town.[15] According to pro-government media, the rate of attacks on Maharda increased during the course of the2017 Hama offensive.[16]
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